1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to transgenic bioluminescent plants, and more particularly to plants, cells of which have been transfected via Agrobacterium, with nucleic acid molecules encoding luciferase and luciferin such that the resulting plant luminesces, in whole or in part. The transfected nucleic acid molecules may be operably linked to, and their expression regulated by, promoters in order to control the incidence, timing and duration of the genetically engineered bioluminescence. Bioluminescent emissions may further be transformed such that light of varying wavelengths is emitted from the plants.
2. Description of the Related Art
A certain class of enzymes, known as luciferases, bioluminesce in the presence of compatible substrates, referred to generally as luciferins. Luciferases are a broad class of proteins that exhibit little homology and are found in terrestrial and marine bacteria, jellyfish, fireflies and a variety of other organisms. Nucleic acid molecules which encode luciferase have been identified, and their bioluminescent activities have been used extensively to study gene regulation and expression. By inserting luciferase protein encoding sequences downstream from a promoter to be studied, one may tell when that promoter has been activated by the resulting bioluminescence.
Luciferins, the substrates for luciferases, tend to be complex organic molecules. Bacterial luciferins, such as those found in Vibrio, Photobacterium and Xenorhabdus, have been described as a complex of fatty acid reductase proteins. Some luciferins are thought to be formed by means of complex catabolic pathways. Others, such as the jellyfish luciferin coelenterazine, result from the cyclization of amino acids of a polypeptide. Until recently, nucleic acid molecules encoding the luciferin complex were not known. This meant that in order to detect luciferase, luciferin had to be applied directly to organisms expressing luciferase. The luciferin had to be absorbed by the target, and as a result, suitable hosts were generally limited to cells, relatively thin tissue cultures, and very small seedlings. Organisms or cells expressing luciferase were lysed and exposed to a luciferin solution, which killed the host organism.
There has been a significant amount of work done to improve the use of luciferase in studying gene expression; however, all efforts have been limited by the inability to produce in vivo bioluminescence without the addition of chemicals, outside of a laboratory environment, and in larger organisms.
It is therefore desirable to provide a method for causing bioluminescence in a mature multicellular organism, such as a plant.
It is also desirable to provide a method for inducing bioluminescence without the need to apply chemicals to an organism.
It is also desirable to provide for a mature plant capable of bioluminescence outside of a laboratory setting and without the need of applying special chemicals.
It is also desirable to provide a mature plant capable of bioluminescence where the timing of that bioluminescence is controlled, or when such bioluminescence can communicate important information about the relative health or condition of the plant.
It is also desirable to provide a mature plant capable of bioluminescence where the bioluminescent emission can be transformed and the wavelength of the light emitted from the plant can vary.